John Locke: Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690)
Explanation and Analysis of the Document
The excerpts from the Second Treatise on Civil Government are taken from four chapters: Chapter II, “Of the State of Nature”; Chapter III, “Of the State of War”; Chapter IV, “Of Slavery”; and Chapter V, “Of Property.” These excerpts deal with fundamental questions about government, including the origin of government and what makes the authority of government legitimate.
Chapter II: “Of the State of Nature”
Locke's Second Treatise argues that governments originated from a primal social contract. Locke, like other social contract theorists, posited a fictive political environment called the “state of nature,” a kind of theoretical state in which people enjoy absolute freedom, without the constraints of society and government. He begins with the premise that originally people lived in a primitive state of nature without any government and in accordance with the “law of nature.” In support of his view he quotes Richard Hooker, an Anglican...
